Thompson welcomes young teammate

The former double BTCC champion went into the final race of the year as the only man that could snatch the title from eventual champion Andy Priaulx, despite having very little help from Olivier Tielemans through the season.

However, Thompson says that he was happy to have more responsibility in the team, as it made it easier for him to get his car set up the way he wanted.

"It helped a lot," he told the WTCC website. "When I drove for SEAT, we had six drivers, and five of us had won domestic or international titles.

"My driving style was very different to say Gabriele (Tarquini) and Rickard (Rydell). When you have me saying one thing and four other drivers saying a different thing the team goes with the majority.

"That made it tough for me to get a good feeling from the car. I never had that problem this year, and I think a lot of credit goes to the team for having faith in me for that."

Despite coming so close to winning the title and then missing out, Thompson feels he can be very happy with his year.

"I think you have to take a step back and realise that we've beaten both Schnitzer BMWS, all the Chevrolets and all but one of the SEATs," he added.

"When you consider the age of the car I was driving, and the fact that we've only done three days of testing all year, it's been a pretty remarkable job."